Car-coupling



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. C. GARLIGK.

. CAR GOUPLING.

No. 489,943. Patented JmL-17, 1893.

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9 E. C. GARLIC'K.-

OAR GOUPLING. No. 489,943. Patented'Jan. 17, 1893.

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GAR GUUPLING. No. 489,943. Patented Jan, 17, 1893.

ITED STATES PATENT Ormea.

EDVARD C. GARLICK, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 489,943, dated January1'?, 1893.

Application filed April 25, 1892. Serial No. 430,492. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD C. GARLICK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Couplers; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in car couplers; it has for itsobject the simplifying of the construction so as to reduce the number ofparts, cheapen the manufacture, and combine great strength withcertainty of action, and to avoid the liability to breakage orderangement which is common to many automatic couplers, and it consistsin the construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafterfully described, and of the features of novelty pointed out in theclaims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a View, in elevation, of my improveddevice, shown as attached to a freight car; Fig. 2 is a front sideelevation thereof; Fig. 3 is a plan View of the headed coupling link orbar; Fig. 4 a like View of a modied construction thereof Fig. 5 is asectional view of the device, on the line x-x of Fig. l, showing theparts in the posi tion they occupy when the car is coupled; Fig. 6 is asectional view transversely through the device, on the line y-y of Fig.5; Fig. 7 is a detached view of the coupling jaw B; and Fig. 8 is a likeview of a modification of the form thereof. Fig. 9 shows the twodrawheads coupled together, in Vertical section.

A represents the drawbar head, having a widely expanded fiar-ing conicalmouth a,

contracting to a throat a', within which is a recess or space d toreceive the head of the coupling link or bar C. On one side of the moutha is a recess f, occupying about one half of the length of themouth,witbin which recess is pivoted a laterally oscillating jaw B,having its inner face conformed to the conical contour of mouth ct andforming when closed the inner one half, both laterally andlongitudinally, of the conical mouth a, throat a', and recess d. The jawB has at its inner end a projecting toe-piece or lug b, extending nearlyacross the recess d so as to be struck by the entering head of theheaded coupling link C,Which will thus throw around the jaw B and closeit upon the neck of the link C. A casing E, attached to or forming partof the drawhead, rises from the outer part of the recess fin which thejaw B plays, and in this casing-a vertically moving lockpiece G isfitted to slide easily and smoothly, and has a stem g projecting throughthe top of the casing, to which stem a chain or cord is affixed, for apurpose to be presently described. The recess f is of such width,horizontally, that when the jaw B is opened to its full width therein(the positionshown in Fig. 6, and indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5,)the head of the link or bar C will have room to pass easily between thejaw B and the fixed side of the throat a. At its outer side the recess fextends to the outer wall of casing E, with the chamber of which it islaterally continuous, and its width is such that when the jaw B is fullyclosed the back of the jaw is in line with or slightly Withdrawn fromthe inner line of the casing E.

In operation the coupler is opened by lifting the lockpiece G, movingback the jaw B into recess f, and allowing the lock-piece to rest uponthe jaw, the chain of the lock-piece being left slack. As the cars cometogether the headed coupling link carried in the draw head of the othercar enters the flaring mouth a and its spheroidal head is thereby guidedinto the throat a', passing laterally partly into the space from whichjaw B was moved, until the end of the link strikes against theprojecting toe-piece b of the jaw B, which is thereby instantly causedto close upon the bar C, and as the jaw B swings around to close upon C,the lock-piece G, being left unsupported, falls behind the jaw and locksthe coupling. When strain is now brought upon the coupler it istransmitted from the head of the bar C against the inner side of throata', and that part of the strain which comes upon the side of throat awhich is formed in the jaw Bis brought upon the solid metalv forming thefront of recess f and the side of drawhead A. These parts are usuallythe strongest and most massive parts of any coup- IOO ler, and may begiven any desired thickness or strength. The lateral thrust ofjaw Bunder the strain of a heavy train is borne by lock-piece G and the wallsof casing E, which parts are easily made strong enough without beingcumbersome, and as the lateral thrust is small in comparison to whatcomes upon drawhead A there is no possibility of any breakage or failureto hold. To uncouple it is only necessary to lift the lockpiece G,whenthe drawing out of bar C will throw back the jaw B into recessf, leavingthe lock piece to rest upon the jaw and the coupler ready to coupleagain.

It is a common defect with many automatic couplers that their parts areso arranged that by the jar andshock of the cars, in making up trainsdre., the parts which are -set ready for coupling are displaced and thecoupler fails to act, often being broken instead of coupling when thecars come together. In my device it will be seen that the jaw B, havingconsiderable weight of itself, moves over the floor of recessfon whichit rests in a direction transverse to theline of motion caused by theshock of cars coming together, and transverse also to the line ofgravity; in addition, the lockpiece G resting upon it addsits weight, sothat it is not possible by any jar or shock to cause the jaw B to closeunless something enters the coupler to strike the toepiece b.

In the operations of switching, making up trains &c., it is often verydesirable to allow the cars to come together, to push other cars, or forother purposes, without having them couple. In my device this is easilyaccomplished by holding the lockpiece G in its ele- Vated position, whenthe jaw B will play back and forth without coupling; and it is notnecessary to remove the coupling bar from other cars to preventtheircoupling with it; neither will the coming together of the carscause any strain on any of the parts, as it does in other couplers whenthe parts are not set for coup` ling. By reason of the flaring mouth ofthe .draw head and the form of the coupling bar C, the cars will coupleas well when one is higher than the other, or 'the drawheads out of linelaterally, as when the drawheads are in a direct line, also on curves orrough track no strain is brought to bear upon the coupler except thedirect pull of the train, as the large flat face of the drawheads keepsthem substantially parallel, no matter how oblique may be the positionof the bar C, and they act as most efficient buffers. The recess d inwhich the end of the headed link is held allows the body of the link tomove freelyin all directions in the conical mouth of the drawhead, andthus forms, in effect, a universal joint, and allows to the cars allthat desirable freedom of motion of the common link and pin, without itsweakness, and is besides absolutely automatic. Telescoping of the carsis impossible vwith my improved coupler, as the headed link or bar C isordinarily at least two inches in diameter at the neck, and may be madeas much larger asis desired, and the drawheads when coupled stand neartogether with but little play between them. The drawheads of every carare alike and hence couple together with the same headed links, and bysimply providing the common pin and pinhole in the draw head, my devicemay be coupled with cars having only the old fashioned pin and link, nomatter what may be the difference in height of the two cars.

I prefer to equip the cars with a cranked lever m extending across theend of the car L, at a suitable height to be manipulated from theground, and having at one or both ends a hand lever n, and just abovethe coupler an arm o, to which the chain attached to the stem g issecured. By this means the brakeman can, by means of the lever m n liftthe lockpiece and allow the cars to uncouple without going between them.By releasing the lever as soon as the cars uncouple the coupler is leftready set for coupling again. In case it is wished to leave the coupleropen so that it will not couple when cars are run together, it is onlynecessary to fasten the 1ever in the open position by any of the usualand well known means, as by a pin, or a ratchet and dog suitably placedfor that purpose.

I do not confine myself to the precise form of jaw or couplinglink orbar above described, as I may form the jaw and bar with a vertical planehook, as shown in Figs. 4 and 8, without departing from my invention.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. An automatic car coupler consisting of the drawhead with iiaringconical mouth, narrow throat, and recess for the head of the link, thelaterally oscillating jaw, and the vertically sliding lockpiece,incombination with the headed link, substantially as described.

2. In a car coupler the combination of the drawhead with flaring conicalmouth, the laterally oscillating jaw forming aportion of such conicalmouth, the narrow throat formed partly in said jaw and partly in thebody of the drawhead, the vertically sliding lockpiece, and the headedlink, substantially as described.

3. In a car coupler the combination of a drawhead with flaring mouth, alaterally 0scillating jaw within said mouth having a hook or recess toengage the head of a headed link or bar, and a lug or toepieceprojecting in the path of such link or bar,a coupling link or bar headedt`o correspond with such jaw, and a vertically sliding lockpiece, allcombined and operating substantially as described.

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4. The combination in a car coupler adapta casing and having a stemprojecting above ed to couple with a headed link, of the draW- suchcasing, substantially as described. 1o head with flaring conical mouthterminating In testimony whereof I hereto affix my sigin a throat toengage lthe neck of the link, nature in presence of t-Wo Witnesses.

5 the laterally oscillating coupling j-aWpivoted EDWARD C. GARLICK.

in a recess in said drawhead and forming one Witnesses: side of suchmouth and throat, the headed LOREN PRENTISS,

link and the lockpiece sliding vertically in WM. G. TAYLOR.

